Swimming

Ivy loves her kiddie pool that we got her.... it's little, but we knew we wouldn't take care of a big pool with chemicals (we tried that last summer and it got scummy a couple of times) so we figured we would just get a little one that we could empty and fill easily. Anyway, she acts like she is really swimming. Oh, and she knows where the pool is, too.... as soon as you walk outside, she looks at it and gets all excited.... adorable.

Camping

Monday night and Tuesday night the family went camping. We were planning on tent camping, since we have all of the gear, but changed our minds at the last minute. Erin wasn't crazy about going at all, and with Ivy being so little, we decided a cabin may be the way to go. So I found a place on the internet and we drove out. It was in a little town called Big Prairie.... and it was beautiful. Not that TOledo is really "big city" life, but being in the country was so refreshing.

The first night there, we all went swimming.... that was when we realized we forgot Miss Ivy's stroller and A LIGHTER TO LIGHT THE FIRE. So we asked the person at the desk where the nearest Wal-mart was. It's amazing, we were in the middle of Amish country and there were still two Walmart's within a half hour of us. Anyway, so we went to Walmart, got our forgotten supplies, and returned to the campsite to cook dinner (on the grill).

Tuesday we went canoeing.... definately an adventure with a wee one, but still very fun. Nathan, Erin and Kyle were in the canoe (Nathan and Kyle paddled) and Ivy and I were in an inner tube dragging behind the boat. The water was cold, but we still had fun.... until Ivy decided it was way past her naptime and started screaming bloody murder. I kept telling her she was disturbing the peace of the wilderness, but she didn't care. She cried until she fell asleep on my chest, about 5 minutes before the canoe trip was over. We'll have to work on the timing next time.

Tuesday night we cooked on the grill again and made s'mores over the fire.... yum. Wedsnesday was basically spent packing up and driving home. It was a really nice trip and I definately think we'll try to do it again this summer.

Oh, and by the way, camping in a cabin is STILL real camping. I had to walk to go th the bathroom, walk even further to take a shower, there was no A/C and plenty of bugs... oh, and a raccoon who was stalking our cabin, causing me to go sit in the car and read my book. Definately real camping. :o)

Ivy's Ears

Yesterday we went for Ivy's recheck.... it was supposed to be Tuesday, but we are going camping so it had to be rescheduled. Once again, I didn't think she was any better.... still tugging at her ears, a little cranky. Well, I was wrong. Her ears are clear once again. Yay! So now hopefully they STAY THAT WAY!

Well Check

Ivy went to the doctor today for her nine month well check. Here's the stats:

Length - 28" (75%)
Weight - 20.0 pounds (75%)
Head - not sure on this one, but it was past the 100 percentile!!!

So her noggin is still huge, but the pedi said not to worry, one of her parents must just have a big head... my vote is for Nathan because it sure can't be me, lol. Everything else is looking good.... Dr. Amy said Ivy has an umbilical hernia(!!) which kind of made me mad because no one has ever mentioned it before. Also, she said she was totally fine with me not starting table food yet, especially with the distinct lack of teeth. She admitted she is conservative when it comes to table food because she had some issues with children having a "rough time" with it during her residency.... all I can figure is choking?? She said her reccommendation would be to wait until a year if that is what I want.

Here's some bad news.... when we got there and they took Ivy's temp, it was 99.2. Girly usually runs pretty low, like in the 97s, so right away I thought "ear infection." And I was right. Her right ear is fine, but her left ear hasn't cleared up from the last infection (two weeks ago). Dr. Amy said she hears from lots of parents that they don't like the ENT's, that they don't listen and just reccommend surgery, and said our decision to wait through the summer is fine, BUT if after this clears up Ivy gets ANOTHER infection, she wouldn't wait if it were her daughter. So now that's on my plate again. Only time will tell.

HOT!

For crying out loud, it is soooo hot here. Yesterday, the high was over 90, right now it is 84 and it is supposed to be in the 90s all week! This is Ohio, not Texas FTLOG! We drove all over town looking for a pool for Ivy and had a really hard time getting one. We finally scored one at Toys R Us. It is filled up, in the sun, warming up so it is ready when Ivy wakes up from her nap. We've been keeping her as naked as possible and she has a rash that I think is heat related. Her nine month well check is tomorrow, so we will see then.

nine months

Nine months? Where has the time gone? Ivy pulls up on anything and everything now.... she is even starting to cruise a little bit. I think she may FINALLY be getting a tooth---she chews on her tongue all the time and the drool has kicked up a notch. She's getting to be a stubborn baby.... when you take something away or make it so she can't get to what she wants (usually someting she shouldn't have!) she throws a miny fit. She's also very into pulling mommy's hair and taking glasses off people's face. She doesn't seem to give other people a hard time with hair pulling and pinching like she does Mommy.... testing the limits already, I guess. She occassionally gets on all fours and crawls, but it's still usually the Army crawl. She adores the bird and loves it when we take her into the kitchen to have a peek. I finally started giving her fruit puffs to munch on, so she sits in her high chair while we eat. She semi-chokes on them still, so I am not sure she is ready for other table food. I still lay wih her to put her to sleep and I love that time.... I look forward to it every day. I love that baby more than anything in the world.....